[{"TitleName":"Rommel's Revenge","Publisher":"Crystal Computing","Author":"Martin S. Horsley, Dave De Leuw","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0004236","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 2, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-23","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Crystal Computing\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £6.50\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: M.S. Horsley\r\n\r\nBoth of Crystal's pre-Christmas arcade releases were copies of well known originals from the arcades, Invasion of the Body Snatchas we reviewed in the last month's issue. Rommel's Revenge is probably the best Spectrum version yet of the favourite 'Battle Zone' game. There's a natural comparison here with Artic's very successful 3D Combat Zone, and it's arguable as to which is the better since in many respects they are quite different.\r\n\r\nThe display is set on a flat plain surrounded by mountains and even an active volcano. Numerous buildings and other objects like telegraph poles litter the landscape. In the centre of the screen is a gun sight, and above it a radar screen with sweep arm on which enemy tanks are seen as dots. You, of course, are in command of a tank, and controls allow for forward and reverse movement with rotation left and right. All the graphics are in a hollow 3D which allows all sides of an object to be seen at once. The object of the game, quite simply, is to destroy the enemy tanks and stay alive. The more you destroy the more they come after you.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: Z/X left/right, N/M forward/backwards, SPACE = fire. In addition - 1/2 sound on/off, V = volcano erupting or not. Both of these options speed up the game if not in use.\r\nJoystick: AGF, Protek, Fuller, Kempston\r\nColour: poor\r\nGraphics: good\r\nSound: very poor\r\nSkill levels: 1\r\nLives: 4\r\nFeatures: note special loading program which might make you think it isn't loading properly when it is!","ReviewerComments":["This is the best version of 'Battle Zone' with more objects like poles, radar towers and spouting volcanoes. Missiles seem to take about the right time to reach a target and the game, generally, is faster. Against it is the sound, which is poor, no noises when an enemy explodes and only a weak plop when you fire.\r\nUnknown","It's a bit weak on colour, the 3D graphics are very effective and smooth, but everything is done in white lines on blue. The tanks all move a bit faster than the Artic version, as does the firing, but there aren't as many up against you at one go although it gets progressively tougher. Rather thin sound and I was disappointed with the explosion visuals - the enemy tanks just seem to disappear when hit.\r\nUnknown","This is a great game and very playable. The tanks aren't as over-intelligent as the ones in Artic's version. They always managed to twitch out of the way of your shots, but in Rommel's Revenge they still manage to be a match. Also the landscape is much more detailed - it's fun at first just to wander round looking at the various buildings and structures.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Good.","Page":"75,76","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Strong but silent - the huge landscape of Rommel's Revenge."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"70%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"78%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"65%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 3, Apr 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-16","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":128,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Plymouth Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [redacted]\r\nAdditional setting and process work by The Tortoise Shell Press, [redacted].\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH MICRO unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Crystal, 48K\r\n£6.50 (2)\r\nAuthor: M S Horsley\r\n\r\nThis is probably the best version yet of the well known arcade original 'Battle Zone' and is, of course, similar to Artic's '3D Combat Zone'. In one sense it's much better - the flat plain is well landscaped and teeming with buildings, radar towers and telegraph poles. The missiles, once fired, seemed to travel at a realistic speed. In another sense it's not so good - the enemy tanks don't appear as frequently and there aren't any flying saucers to contend with. On the other hand the enemy tanks aren't so over-intelligent at avoiding your fire, so you get a better sense of achievement! Rather poor sound and the hollow 3D graphics are colourless, but it's fun just wandering round looking at the buildings. Watch out for the special loader routine which makes it look as though the program isn't loading properly. Reasonable keys, joystick: Kempston, Fuller, AGF, Protek. Rating: good, overall CRASH rating 65% m/c.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"66","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"65%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 72, Mar 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-02-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon 'Call me Bon Jovi' Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'a fiver if my name goes first in the list' Dillon, Chris 'a fiver? You must be joking!' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Alison Morton\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive 'I'll leave that with you then' Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Brian Talbot\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"Label: Firebird\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Sewli Mannan\r\n\r\nYou're a hero again defending a remote asteroid from enemies curiously like those in Battlezone. All you have is a tank, cruddy cannons and the odd anti-tank missile. Sounds more like Battiesone eh? It's almost like a game of hide and seek. The enemy hides and you seek. Boy, do those tanks know how to hide? Yes they do. So why bother? just stay where you are, let them come and find you. It's much quicker.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are OK - the whole screen is blue and the tanks and other weird square scenery are white. The game, though, is not very exciting. It manages to be both dead easy and frustrating! You see nothing and from nowhere something gets you from behind then the program has the cheek to say \"You have zapped.\" I wouldn't have been zapped if it didn't cheat!\r\n\r\nThere's nothing here, except for those with a deep interest in looking for things. And for those with patience. Save the money.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"If you are a patient person then this is the game for you otherwise don't bother.","Page":"59","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Sewli Mannan","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"5/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 7, Apr 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-03-03","Editor":"Peter Connor, Steve Cooke","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Advanced Computer Entertainment\r\nFuture Publishing [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted], Telecom Gold 84:TXT152, Prestel/Micronet [redacted]\r\n\r\nCo-editors: Peter Connor, Steve Cooke\r\nReviews Editor: Andy Wilton\r\nProduction Editor: Rod Lawton\r\nStaff Writer: Andy Smith\r\nArt Editor: Trevor Gilham\r\nArt Team: Angela Neal, Sally Meddings\r\nPublisher: Chris Anderson\r\n\r\nCOVER PHOTOGRAPHY\r\nStuart Baynes Photography [redacted]\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS\r\nChristine Stacey [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nWessex Reproduction [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nSM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nChase Web Offset [redacted]\r\n\r\nCopyright - FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD 1988 - No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"CPC, £1.99cs\r\nSpectrum, £1.99cs\r\n\r\nThis was one of a family of very successful games by Design Design, who were originally (in the good old, bad old days) called Crystal and produced some memorable Spectrum games, including the notorious Halls of the Things. Tank Busters appeared on their disk compilation along with the excellent Dark Star and others - it's now a budget release from Firebird. It remains one of the best implementations of the arcade game Battlezone on an 8-bit micro. Just in case you were born yesterday, that means you pilot a tank around a vector graphics landscape, blasting other tanks and guided missiles. Use the abstract rocks and pyramids to hide behind and make sure you run like mad when one of the more intelligent metal monsters locks onto you - the highest scorer, however, is the man who knows when to turn and fire...","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"69,70","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 5, Apr 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-03-15","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":176,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nTechnical Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Cooke, Peter Connor\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nProgram Control Guardians: Jeff Riddle\r\nGame-of-the-month poster: Pat Weedon\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nCover Illustration: Richard Evans\r\nGroup Editor: Cyndy Miles\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nPublisher: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nPublishing Secretary: Jenny Dunne\r\nAdvertising Manager: Herbert Wright\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Jan Martin\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Pat Dolan\r\nAdvertisement Production: Simon Carter\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Coraline Turner\r\nSales Executives: Joey Davies, Marion O'Neill\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1984."},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum 48K\r\nJOYSTICK: Optional\r\nCATEGORY: Arcade\r\nSUPPLIER: Crystal\r\nPRICE: £6.50\r\n\r\nCrystal's greatest success to date has been the excellent Hall of the Things. With Rommel's Revenge, the company changes direction and, instead of a wholly original game, has produced a copy of the arcade favourite - you know, the one in which you blast away at tanks and all the effects are in wire-frame 3D.\r\n\r\nThe first surprise comes as the game loads - the familiar Sinclair blue and yellow stripes are conspicuous by their absence and instead the border alternates between blue and black as the title screen loads.\r\n\r\nRommel's Revenge is compatible with Pro-Tek, Fuller, AGF and Kempston joysticks and the program senses which is attached and configures itself accordingly.\r\n\r\nThe 3D effects are well done, with distant objects growing in size and changing perspective with the viewpoint.\r\n\r\nIn addition to the optional keyboard movement control keys, there are keys to turn sound on and off, to quit the present game and to select or de-select the volcano and radar options.\r\n\r\nWhen present, these slow the game down and thus are useful as an aid to familiarization with the controls.\r\n\r\nI must confess that this is not my favourite type of game, but with Rommel's Revenge Crystal has produced a very fair copy of the original.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"82,83","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Steve Mann","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ease Of Use","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Originality","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Lasting Interest","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 21, Jul 1984","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1984-06-21","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nConsultant Editor: John Campbell\r\nManaging Production Editor: Harold Mayes MBE\r\nStaff Writer: June Mortimer\r\nDesign: Elaine Bishop\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Holly Fleming\r\nProduction Assistant: Dezi Epaminondou\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nManaging Editor: Nigel Clark\r\nManaging Director: Terry Cartwright\r\nAssistant Managing Director: Barry Hazel\r\nChairman: Richard Hease\r\n\r\nU.S. Press representative Mr J. Eisenberg, JE Publishers' representative, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair Programs is published monthly by ECC Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like your original programs to be published in Sinclair Programs, please send your contributions, which must not have appeared elsewhere, to\r\nSinclair Programs\r\nEEC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. We pay £10 for the copyright of each program published.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1984 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Ivan Hissey"},"MainText":"Crystal has produced some excellent games for the Spectrum, so when the cover for Rommel's Revenge claims it is \"a brilliant interpretation of the most visually stunning arcade game ever\" it is tempting to believe it. Do not believe it.\r\n\r\nNowhere is the aim of the game explained, so players who have never seen the arcade game will be mystified. The reviewer was mystified. Thunder across the landscape in a tank which crashes into strange, geometric frameworks with no apparent effect, aiming for mountains which are never reached.\r\n\r\nAt that moment another tank appeared. For lack of anything else to do, it was shot. The score chart indicated that was a good thing to do, so other hapless tanks to destroy were sought. With radar scanned, the tank thundered across the landscape again. At long last another tank appeared and was shot. After another long delay, a second tank appeared, to be shot as well.\r\n\r\nRommel's Revenge is not gripping and it is certainly not the spectacular game claimed on the cassette cover. It also appears to be pointless. It is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Crystal Computing, [redacted] and costs £6.50.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"June Mortimer","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]